Pune Porsche crash: HC denies pre-arrest bail to father of minor driver’s friend

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday denied anticipatory bail to the father of the minor driver’s friend in the Porsche car accident in Pune that claimed two lives in May.
Justice Manish Pitale noted in his order that prima facie ingredients of an offence were made out against the applicant.
The applicant’s minor son was allegedly sitting in the rear seat of the car when the accident took place. Along with the teenage driver, he too was allegedly drunk.
The high-end car knocked down two motorbike-borne IT professionals, one of them a woman, in Kalyaninagar area in the wee hours of May 19, killing both.
The parents of the juvenile driver allegedly bribed doctors to swap his blood samples with those of his mother.
Similarly, the present applicant too is accused of replacing the blood samples of his son in connivance with the doctors at the government-run Sassoon General Hospital.
While the other accused in the case were arrested, the applicant remained absconding, police told the high court.
Senior counsel Aabad Ponda, appearing for the applicant, said his client could be at the most booked under the Indian Penal Code Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information to screen an offender) which is a bailable offence.
Public prosecutor Shishir Hiray opposed the plea, saying the sessions court correctly appreciated the modus operandi adopted by the applicant and the other co-accused while dismissing his anticipatory bail application by an order dated September 9, 2024.
The high court noted that prima facie there were indications that blood samples of the applicant’s minor son was replaced so that he could go scot-free.
It also agreed with the prosecution that the applicant remaining absconding created an impediment to the probe, and rejected the pre-arrest bail plea.
(With agency inputs)